The Struggle for EU Legitimacy: Public Contestation, 1950-2005

Publisher	Palgrave Macmillan
Series Title	Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
Publication Date	08/08/2013
ISBN	978-1-137-32783-3
Content Type	Textbook \| Monograph
	Comitology is the most important form of multi-level governance in the European Union. Member State and Commission actors together create roughly 2,500 executive acts per year, amounting to about half of all European laws together. But to what degree is this unknown and invisible committee system being held to account for its decisions? This book addresses accountability in truly multi-level terms. It looks at accountability foreseen in the constitutional setup of the comitology system, as well as at how this plays out in practice at the European level and within national governments. Controlling Comitology combines findings from different levels of government, and analyses data sources including interviews, survey data of committee participants and their superiors, legislative databases and meeting documents. The book argues that accountability has steadily improved over time, but also that unexpected gaps have emerged. Contents: + Acknowledgments + List of Abbreviations + Introduction: Approaching Legitimacy through Discursive Meanings + Plan of the Book + PART I: PEACE, PROSPERITY, AND PROGRESS: EARLY LEGITIMATING NARRATIVES, 1950s-1970s ++ 1. Indispensability ++ 2. The European Common Good ++ 3. Enlightened Social Engineering ++ 4. Legality ++ 5. Conclusion + PART II: DEMOCRACY AND OTHER CHALLENGES: EARLY COUNTER-DISCOURSES, 1950s-1970s ++ 6. Democracy ++ 7. Intergovernmentalism ++ 8. Challenges to Functional Problem-Solving ++ 9. Conclusion + PART III: A EUROPE CLOSER TO THE CITIZENS: THE PEOPLE'S EUROPE PROJECT OF THE 1980s ++ 10. Citizen Expectations and the Will of the People ++ 11. Communicating with the People and Quantifying Promises ++ 12. Forging Europeans ++ 13. Subjects into Citizens ++ 14. Conclusion + PART IV: MAASTRICHT IN THE FRENCH AND GERMAN DEBATES: CRUMBLING PROMISES AND THE QUESTION OF WHO MIGHT RULE ++ 15. EMU and the Crumbling Promise of Prosperity and Peace ++ 16. Whose Rule? Citizens, the Body Politic, and Democracy ++ 17. Conclusion + PART V: DISCURSIVE CRISIS MANAGEMENT: STRESSING AND STRETCHING 'DEMOCRACY', 1990s-2000s ++ 18. Democracy as Transparency ++ 19. Subsidiarity as Closeness to the Citizens ++ 20. Governance and Participation ++ 21. Identity- and Demos-Building ++ 22. Conclusion + PART VI: A CONSTITUTIONAL MOMENT? THE CONSTITUTION IN THE FRENCH AND GERMAN DEBATES ++ 23. What Kind of Europe Do We Want? The French Debate ++ 24. What is Wrong With the French? The German Debate ++ 25. Comparisons and Conclusions + PART VII: THE STORY AND THE LITERATURE: DEMOCRACY, EFFICIENCY, AND THE CONTESTED GAME OF EU POLITICS ++ 26. The Story Assembled ++ 27. Government By and For the People ++ 28. Politicization Versus De-Politicization: EU Politics as a Contested Game + Conclusion + Conclusion: EU Legitimacy as a Sisyphean Aspiration? + References + Index
Source Link	Primary Source http://www.palgrave.com
Subject Categories	Politics and International Relations
Countries / Regions	Europe